


Tuesday

by benswolos



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drinking, F/M, Family Issues, I have no idea how the tv industry works bye, Kylo thinks Rey is a man for a bit, Minor Violence, Modern AU, Showrunner/Journalist AU, Slow Burn, Smoking, Swearing, Violence against inanimate objects, long fic, mentions of drug use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-17 02:37:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18956191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benswolos/pseuds/benswolos
Summary: Kylo Ren, a showrunner for an up and coming TV show for the First Order Network gets his good review streak and ego threatened by some journalist at The Rebel Post.





	Tuesday

Every Tuesday morning, there was every big newspaper imaginable laid across Kylo Ren's desk. He would enter the office 9:30 sharp, despite the light pounding in his head from his usual Monday night festivities. There was no need to worry, nothing a few Advil and a quiet morning alone wouldn’t fix. After the usual nods and greetings amongst his staff, Kylo would arrive at his desk by 9:35. A moment later, his assistant would place the venti sized coffee cup onto his desk.

 _The Knights_ aired every Monday night, it was an up and coming series for the First Order Network and it was Kylo’s pride and joy.

It was in its third season now and as showrunner, Kylo had his hand in every part of production. Some even joked that his staff were ‘ _The Knights of Ren_ ’.

On these Tuesday mornings, Kylo would take an hour out of his busy schedule to receive the reception of their most recent episode. He would go through all the newspapers first, skipping through all the war and filth of the world and straight to the entertainment section. There he would scour for the television reviews.

 _Galaxy Press_ deemed last night episode as insightful, enjoyable, cutting edge television that left you on the edge of your seat every week. _4 1/2 stars_.

He wasn’t displeased. _Galaxy Press_ had always written stunning reviews about the show, the network having a finger in the papers honeypot didn’t have anything to do with it all. Though, it did help.

 _D’Qar Daily_ couldn’t fault The Knights, claiming that the writing was exceptional and that the season deserved an award at the very least. Even if the season started out too slow for their liking. _4 stars_. Kylo of course disagreed with the slow start part but still, he was happy about the outcome.

Three more papers flattered the show. Whether it was the pace of the plot, the characters and their development, the cinematography or the excellent writing.

Once upon a time, Kylo was some small fry in the writers room working for the Skywalker Network. On the rare occasion, his work would be noticed or praised by reviewers and critics (of course very rarely, they barely knew he existed). When a critic praised the writing of an episode he contributed too or when his name had been featured on some convention flyer, he would cut it out and tape it into a scrapbook. That scrapbook thickening over the years at a snail’s pace as he worked on the hit show The Jedi.

Now as he worked of the First Order Network, he received more than enough rave reviews and recognition for his work. He could have had a whole bookshelf filled with thickened scrapbooks containing all the praise he had received so far.  Something he didn’t get with the Skywalker Network. He had grown since then, seeing such a collection of things as childish. His work spoke for itself. He had been used to receiving great reception to his work, not only with The Knights but with work he had done for the network before that.

Every Tuesday morning would bring excellent review after excellent review and it had been that way for almost two seasons now. The network heads were especially happy with Kylos work. He was sure living his dream.

Leaning back into his chair, venti in hand, he started next onto the online reviews. His work phone set to receive motivations whenever any site online uttered the words ‘ _The Knights_ ’ or ‘ _Kylo Ren_ ’.

 _Jakku Times_ and _Daily Crait_ both had similar things to say about last night’s episode, leaving 8/10 ratings. He noted to send links to Phasma so she could retweet it onto the shows Twitter page.

Online seemed to reflect the views of the press, stellar reviews all round. Kylo was about to place his phone down until he slid his notifications bar down to see the last notification.

‘ _Article mentions key phrases ‘The Knights’ and ‘Kylo Ren_ ’’

Kylo screwed his face up, he was never really mentioned in articles all that often. Sure on the odd occasion, but the show really spoke for itself. It was common for a director, writer or actor to be mentioned in articles about the show but not himself. He curiously tapped the notification, wondering what they could say to fuel his ego.

‘ _The Knights Losing Its Touch?’  
_ ** _by Rey Niima_**

Kylo had almost choked on the rest of his flat white. His feet no longer rested on his desk instead they launched to the ground. Kylo sat up in his chair, blinking furiously and trying to ignore the growing pit in his stomach as he continued to scroll down the page.

‘ _Ever since the shows first seasons’ seventh episode titled ‘The Code’, The Knights have become the First Orders cash cow. Critically acclaimed by reviewers online and in papers alike.. Now entering its third season, the show boasts 4 million viewers per episode through television alone and an estimated 2 million fans spread across various social media. But is ‘Canto Magazines TV Show Of The Year’ beginning to lose its touch?_ ’

Kylo exhaled deeply, looking away from the screen for a moment.

‘ _What the fuck is going on?_ ’

He should have just exited Safari, thrown his phone onto his desk and gone out to talk to Mitaka about that convention coming up in Florida but he didn’t. He kept reading.

‘ _The Knights official Reddit thread, a thread containing more than one hundred thousand members, are starting to think so. Criticism started between small numbers in the forum with the show going on hiatus after the second season’s finale in January. The biggest complaint being about the shows abrupt cliffhanger in regards to a certain major character death._

_The show had then returned for its third season in late September and although was met with great reception from critics, numbers of unhappy fans had grown in the Reddit’s forum. Four episodes into its current season,, the criticism from members has increased and has now become a daily topic within the forum itself._

_Fans are upset about the shows current direction, including the character development of fan favourite knight Merida Ren after the second episode of this season titled ‘Chosen One’ where (spoiler) Merida kills her long lost parents._

_Users of the thread are now questioning whether showrunner Kylo Ren has become ‘lazy’, ‘losing his touch’ or perhaps just ‘out of touch with the fan base’ and whether a replacement is in order to save the show before the damage is too permanent._

_Although the backlash is between a few two hundred or so fans, the number of disappointed fans has begun to grow week after week. Perhaps The Knights and it’s showrunner really are losing its touch._ ’

Kylo had read and reread the article over and over, his knuckles getting whiter as he gripped the phone tighter and tighter. He exhaled deeply again, gritting his teeth before throwing the phone at the dark red brick wall.

Lazy? Losing his touch? How dare anyone say that about him? About his pride and joy, his hard work. It boiled his blood. He yelled in frustration as he knocked the

contents off of his desk, throwing some decorative glass balls at the wall and watching them shatter into tiny pieces.

“Mr Ren?” his assistant opened the door slowly, popping her head through the crack in door.

“Is everything okay?” she asked meekly.

Kylo regained his breath and his sanity for a moment, looking around the devastated room. He hadn’t had a violent incident in months. Sure the last time it had been directed at some low life at an after party at Comic Con, but nonetheless he hadn’t seen red in a while, he certainly never acted this way at work. Well not in awhile anyway.

“Uh yeah...” he said after a moment, placing his hands onto his glass desk, bowing his head before looking up to his frightened assistant. She stood in the doorway now, bearing witness to the mess he made.

“Do you mind cleaning this up?”

“S-sure Mr Ren” she stuttered, holding a tablet close to her chest.

“Thanks Abby” Kylo said quietly and gently as he made his way past her. Making a mental note to add an extra hundred or two to her end of year bonus.

Phasma sat in the corner of the open office, scrolling through Twitter. Hearing a bump and a rumble from Kylo Ren’s office didn’t faze her like some of their newer co-workers. Working with him on their first show ‘ _Battleship_ ’, she knew he had a temper on him. She clicked like on some lame fan art of Bastion and Merida, not to her taste but should make some fans day or month.

“Phasma!” she heard, looking up to see Kylo walking quickly past the desks, summoning her to walk with him.

“So... what do I owe the pleasure?” she had said, holding a cigarette in her right hand while waiting for Kylo to generously offer her his lighter.

They stood on the First Orders rooftop, overlooking the bustling city below. It was Kylo and Phasmas ‘secret’ smoking spot. Where they came to have some peace and quiet. Some of Kylos best ideas had come from hours spent on this rooftop. Smoking cigarettes and sneaking the occasional can of beer or glass of whiskey.

“I missed your company” he said, holding out the lighter to Phasma and watching her light her cigarette before he had lit his own.

“Well I know that’s a lie” she scoffed, leaving Kylo with a quick and small smile.

“Are you going to tell me about what that little temper tantrum was about?” Phasma didn’t meet his scowl. Kylo turned his back to the busy streets as he exhaled the smoke in the form of a sigh.

“Wasn’t a temper tantrum!”

“Sure it wasn’t! You’re just clumsy!” she rolled her eyes before taking a drag.

Kylo looked down to his feet, almost embarrassed to admit someone had bad mouthed him and more ashamed to admit it got to him enough to trash his office. But he knew Phasma, he knew she’d know what to do. She was in charge of the shows social media accounts after all.

“Some fucking moron online thinks the shows losing its touch, that I’m losing my touch” Kylo looked to Phasma. She had shared a sympathetic look before paying her attention back to the buildings below.

“Oh, Kylo” she exhaled, “I had hoped you hadn’t seen that”

“You knew about the fucking article?”

“Yes! Of course! It’s my fucking job!”

“And you couldn’t have given me a heads up?”

“Honestly, no one else would dare say it but you sure are sensitive sometimes!” Phasma chuckled lightly.

“Fuck you Phas!” Kylo growled, his nostrils flaring

“Oh there you go again!” she spoke to him as if he was some child making a fuss, and in essence he kind of was acting that way.

“Look, this Rey Niima is no one, the article is one shitty article among the hundreds of articles singing your high praises! And _The Rebel Post_ is some tiny news site that barely gets any readers. They probably trashed the show and trashed you to get some clicks to save their dying site” She rested her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

“I wouldn’t put any mind to it.”

“And what about the Reddit thread?” he said, throwing the last of his cigarette off of the rooftop.

“Oh fuck Reddit, just a bunch of whiny fanboys. We’ll plant some fake accounts and make it seem like The Knights is the best thing since sliced bread or VR porn”

Kylo and Phasma shared a light chuckle, he felt he could breathe easier now. She was right, _The Rebel Post_ were some small fry news site that needed the clicks and this Rey Niima didn’t know a damn thing about anything. Obviously, he didn’t have his own opinions or else this Rey Niima wouldn’t have had to quote the thread so heavily in his article.

“You know, Armitage always wonders why we don’t invite him to our ‘secret’ rooftop meetings” Phasma laughed as they headed towards the stairway door.

“What’s the bet he’ll start smoking just so he can join us” Kylo laughed.

“I wouldn’t put it past him”

After speaking to Phasma he had felt at ease again, and a little uncomfortable about having to see his assistant after his tantrum. But he had realized that it wasn’t the end of the world that a few people weren’t liking the show, people still tuned in and the reviews were still shining. One person’s silly little article wasn’t going to change that.

* * *

It was Tuesday morning and Kylo has spent the last week on Reddit. He had made himself an account, spending his spare time scrolling through various posts. He hadn’t noticed the fake accounts Phasma had planted into the thread. For now he would not mention it to her, she didn’t need to know he was now lurking on the app due to his bruised ego.

Thursday last week, _The Rebel Post_ article had been posted on the sub. It had gained a lot of attention with disgruntled fans singing its praises, the post still receiving attention by Tuesday morning.

 **Master-0F-Knight:** _finally someone who gets it_

 **BastionBae:** _nice change to see someone’s standing up for the fans, since the rest of the media is sucking TKs ass_

 **TheWalkenNed:** _fuck Kylo Ren!!! killing off lor san was a huge mistake!!_

He spent a lot of his time downvoting the negative comments and the post itself. It had gotten to the point where he wondered if he should make multiple accounts to increase the downvotes.

 _‘Okay that’s just ridiculous’_ he thought, closing the app on his brand new phone, his other sadly hadn’t survived last week’s incident.

Kylo was ready for a solid day. There wasn’t a dire need for two Advil like there normally would be. The reviews for last night’s episode would be in and it was his favourite one so far. He had even helped write this one so there was an extra sense of pride. Mitaka was all set to give him the run down on The Knights panel in Florida and he himself was invited to speak at a panel for show creators and show runners in Los Angeles. Things were good, good enough to erase that dumb article from his mind for now.

But his phone notifications betrayed him. Another _Rebel Post_ article on _The Knights_ popped up and this time Rey Niima has taken the chance to review the shows latest episode.

This asshole tore the whole episode apart. Sure he named some good things about the episode but it was a slaughter. He picked the episodes setting and the plot apart. To Kylo the episode was crucial to the plot and the further development of the show itself but this Rey saw nothing but filler. To Kylo, the journey to the ancient village of Ach To was important for the characters of Bastion and Taka to discuss the death of Lor San. To this Rey, the scene wasn’t all that important, it was unnecessary, it didn’t have to be 5 minutes long. Anything and everything had been picked apart and at the end of the article was a measly 3 1/3 star review.

Sighing heavily, Kylo leaned back in his chair. This time he would not throw his phone at the wall and cause a scene, worst of all make his assistant think he was a psycho. He would have to try and let this one go.

The others reviews were supportive, praising the episode. _Jakku Times_ had said that the Bastion Taka dynamic was the most interesting part of the episode. _Galaxy Press_ said that getting to Ach To was worth the 5 episode wait and gave the episode another 4 1/2 star review.

Kylo replayed the words over and over, pacing up and down his office.

“They’re just trying to get clicks, they’re piggybacking off your success just to save their pathetic little news site. They’re no one, nothing” he told himself, thanking the heavens that his walls were not made of glass so he didn’t look like a fool in front of his employees.

He just knew that the growing revolt of fans would eat this review up and spew their hatred over the internet. He prayed others would not follow suit and think it was okay to pick apart the show in the future.

Kylo had spent the rest of the morning chain smoking on the First Orders rooftop, scrolling through Reddit and Twitter looking for any form of validation from fans.

* * *

Another week passed and another shitty review had been posted online. Kylo had started to dread Tuesday’s and this time his co-workers noticed the hangover as he came strolling into the office at 9:40 instead of his usual time.

On his desk sat the usual newspapers, lined up and ready to read, his flat white sitting next to them. One by one he read each review, allowing his ego to be stroked to satisfaction. A voice inside him told him not to even blink an eye at _The Rebel Post_ but he couldn’t help himself. It was if he had wanted to make himself hurt and angry.

It was another nitpicky review, tearing the episode apart and giving it a pathetic 3 stars. You would think he would have grown a thicker skin by now but his nostrils flared, his jaw clenched and he slammed the phone onto his desk. Closing his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath, he looked down to the last sentence of the article.

‘ _Follow @ReyNiima on Twitter_ ’

The other posts never had his Twitter handle before and Kylo’s eyes widened. For once he could get the dirt on this asshole, figure out why he was targeting him and his show.

 **To: Phasma  
**I want you to find everything you can on @reyniima

 **To: The devil reincarnated  
**um ??? That Rebel Post reviewer

 **To: Phasma  
**Ya the fucking rebel post reviewer

 **To: The devil reincarnated  
**omfg just let it go Kylo!

 **To: Phasma  
**Stfu just do it and get back to me, I have meetings all day

 **To: The devil reincarnated  
**yeah yeah whatever

After a long day of meetings with his lead writer, head of marketing and representative of the networks board, Kylo made his way downtown to meet Phasma at some high-class cocktail lounge. Not to his taste certainly but to Phasma’s.

Nursing a martini by the time he arrived, Phasma had made herself comfortable on a dark brown leather bar stool. Her leg swung gently but with her height, it still was close the ground.

“Why hello there Kylo, please have a seat,” she grinned, signaling to the bartender to get her another drink.

“And what will you be having sir?” The bartender asked Kylo as he slid onto the stool next to Phasma.

“Just whiskey on the rocks, the good stuff,” he said, paying no attention to the bartender who had already hurried away.

“So what did you find?” Kylo asked in anticipation.

“If I’m honest, not a lot” Phasma huffed as she swirled the olive on the stick around the rim of the glass.

“What?”

“Whoever Rey Niima is, they keep a low profile online. No Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook. Well nothing that I could find, unless it’s under another name or username,” Phasma ate the olive from her drink, tossing the toothpick onto the wooden mahogany bar counter. “However they do follow the show’s account on Twitter, responds to tweets about the articles and reviews. Shares mostly Rebel Post articles and other world news articles. And they like the environment.” Kylo couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the last part.

“Great! So what now?” The bartender arrived back with his drink. Kylo raised his eyebrows as a form of thank you to the man and sunk the glass quickly.

“What you do now is block Rebel Post on all social media and on your browser and live in the glow that is every other review saying the show is great. Maybe move on with your life.”

“I know that you’re right it’s just that-“

“You’re stubborn,” Phasma intercepted, sipping her drink and offering Kylo a small smile.

“Yeah, that,” he shook his head gently.

“Pass your phone”

“What?”

“Hurry up” she said, holding her palm out to him.

Kylo passed his mobile over to her with a roll of the eyes and small shake of the head. Phasma effortlessly tapped away for a few moments before returning it back to him.

“All done! Now you can’t see anything they post and you can stop sulking”

“Thanks, Phas”

“Now I recommend you leave as fast as you can, Armitage will be here any second,” she sighed, looking at silver watch on her wrist.

“Hux? Here? How?” Kylo stood from the stool. It was bad enough seeing him at work, the last thing he wanted was to see Armitage Hux outside of work too.

“He’s my plaything, now go hurry.”

“Yeah, you don’t have to tell me twice!” he said, sliding off the stool before walking away from the bar.

“Oh, and Kylo!” Phasma called after him, he turned around curious to what she could want now.

“I deleted Reddit off of your phone! Time to ignore the haters!” she smirked, waving one last goodbye. Of course she had deleted it.

* * *

Truth be told, Kylo redownloaded Reddit. Lying in bed alone on a Thursday night, he couldn’t help himself.  He had lay there, scrolling through till the early hours of the morning. Reading criticism after criticism made by disgruntled fans.

‘ _You can’t please them all!_ ’

It seemed like the numbers of angry fans increased week after week. He couldn’t have been doing anything wrong in regards to the show. It was just as dark as last season, maybe a little edgier, maybe a little faster paced and action oriented. But the viewers were eating that kind of shit up last season. Now, however, Kylo was starting to recognize usernames that were defending him and the show weeks ago, only for those same usernames to turn to the dark side and start sharpening their pitchforks with the others.

Kylo dropped his phone onto his chest. He was starting to recognize usernames? He was becoming that obsessed it was becoming almost embarrassing.  In that moment he recognized that he really needed a hobby or a girlfriend. Maybe he should sign up to Tumblr, they seemed to love him and the show over there. Maybe he just needed to start a new show and get Snoke to green light it, start fresh and give someone else the reins for a bit.

Kylo flopped over onto his stomach, groaning into his pillow to give him some relief. By now, he should have just gone to sleep, leave it for the morning, but he just kept on going.

Against better judgment, he found himself on twitter, unblocking Rey Niima and trying to find anything that Phasma missed. If he had been honest with himself, he would have admitted that there is nothing Phasma misses.

Phasma was right. All they retweeted was posts about climate change, volunteering at the local animal shelter, donating to charity, responding to tweets about their reviews and articles. Nothing personal, nothing about friends or what they looked like. Rey Niima might as well have been a ghost online.

* * *

 _The Knights_ were set to go on mid season hiatus for a couple of months in three weeks time. Kylo was thinking of maybe going to Europe for a month as a pat on the back. Somewhere he didn’t have to think about the show or the internet.

Today was another Tuesday, and he had given himself an honorary badge for not stalking Rey Niima for 5 days now. And he had to admit his mood was a lot better for it.

The newspapers were lined up and his coffee waiting for him and by 9:36am, Kylo decided to mix it up for a change. Starting on the online reviews first. Particularly _The Rebel Posts_ review. Might as well start with something negative and end of a positive note.

Kylo placed his laptop on top of the stack of newspapers, having to stalk the news site on his laptop due to it being blocked on his phones browser.

It was another shitty review, the 3 1/2 star rating felt very generous from _The Rebel Post_ , he was expecting as much. During his five day hiatus, Kylo had found mantras that kept him calm at the thought of the incoming bad reviews. It was working now that’s for sure. His uncle would be so proud that he was calming himself down with the power of thought, not that he wanted to think about him at all. Kylo would need to find a soothing mantra for that too.

Slamming the lid of the laptop shut, moving the laptop away from the papers and propping his feet up onto the desk, Kylo sipped his flat white and scrolled to the first notification on his phone. _Jakku Daily_ surely had something flattering to say.

However, this Tuesday, they didn’t.

‘ _Last night episode titled ‘The Call’, was perhaps the weakest episode of the season yet it was still up to the usual Knights standard. The plot fell a little flat this week with the journey up the forbidden villages lost mountains, there was little to no action or reward for the characters or the viewers once the knights reached the peak. However, we have had one new revelation this week. The Call has introduced us to the possibility of a Murdoc and Taka romance in the future but it feels as if the show had forgotten all about Takas apparent feelings for Bastion that we have witnessed throughout season 2 and this half of season 3. Will the show go through with a trashy love triangle? We certainly hope not._

 _3 1/2 stars_ ’

 _3 1/2 stars?_ Kylo was starting to tremble, he swore his vision was turning red. _Jakku Daily_ had never given a review like this, perhaps during seasons ones early days but a 3 1/2 star?

It was easier when it was just _Rebel Post_ shitting all over the show. Kylo could easily pass off the small news site as being without taste and brains but _Jakku Daily_ was a big news site. They had their own printed version in their city and a social media following of millions. _Jakku Daily’s_ opinion actually mattered to people. All he could think was the Reddit thread lapping it up, Rey Niima reclining back in his shitty desk chair somewhere laughing. Kylo was too devastated to read the other reviews.

“Mr Ren” Abby’s voice had said softly as her head peaked through a crack in the door, he was so deep in thought, he hadn’t even noticed her.

“Yeah?” he said, a monotonous sound to his voice as looked up to her.

“Mr Snoke wants to see you.”

His heart stopped.

Snoke never wanted to see him when things were good.

“When?” Kylo said, sitting up straight.

“Now, Mr Ren.”

“Great...” he swallowed hard, playing with the collar of his dress shirt “...thanks for that Abby.”

“No problem!” she grinned sweetly as she closed the door behind her.

He was fucked.

The walk to the elevator felt like a walk of shame. Luckily, it was empty, allowing him to sweat in privacy. Practicing his breathing exercises as he pressed the button to the 27th floor, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

‘ _Leia Organa calling_ ’

With Snoke about to jump down his throat, he did not need the wrath of his mother to accompany that.

He couldn’t understand what she was upset with him for now. Maybe because he barely ever called, refused to talk to his father and continued to hate his uncle for obvious reasons. Declining the call, the doors of the elevator opened to Snokes office and prepared himself for whatever Snoke had in store for him.

“Good morning Mr. Ren, Mr. Snoke has been awaiting your arrival” his assistant stood to greet him, ushering him into the polished wooden double doors leading to Snoke’s office. She wouldn’t be grinning if it was her, that’s for sure.

“Yeah. Thanks, Mia,” he said deflated as she opening the doors of Hell for him to receive his punishment.

“Ah, young Kylo, please sit!” Snoke had greeted him, motioning for Kylo to take a seat across from him. The old man stood behind his desk, grinning from ear to ear, before sitting down.

Kylo swallowed hard, he would have to try to maintain his composure during this meeting, hoping Snoke wouldn’t see weakness in him.

“I am sure you know why I have called you into my office today” Snoke said, shuffling papers on his desk to keep his hands busy.

Kylo looked around the pristine office. Snoke’s office had glass windows surrounding the whole of the office. Kylo knew Snoke was the type of man to want to be able to see everyone below him. Each corner of the room stood podiums with exotic gold statues, gifts Kylo imagined. Snoke was a man with fine taste, after all: he expected nothing less from the older man.

“Is it because the show is doing extremely well?” Kylo smiled. He knew why he was sitting here but he still hoped the fact that the show was doing well would soften any blow he was about to receive.

“Well yes. It has now made its way into our top 10 viewed shows for the network” Snoke stood now, starting to pace back and forward behind his desk, hands behind his back.

“But...” Kylo edged on, an eyebrow raised to his superior.

“It has come to my attention that you are receiving some...unwanted attention”

“How so?” Kylo questioned, a tiny smirk forming on his face.

“This is not the time to play dumb boy, you know full well what I am talking about.”

“I suppose this is about _Rebel Posts_ articles about the show.”

“It is precisely about that.” Snoke stood in place now, turning his head towards Kylo.

“ _Rebel Post_ is just some small news site, barely have enough revenue to start printing actual copies of their paper. I wouldn’t worry about them, they’re nothing.”

“They were nothing, once yes!” Snoke stood behind his desk, both his hands placed far across the desk towards Kylo. He leaned towards him, making Kylo feel as if Snoke was starting to tower over him

“And sure they can spew their nonsense and no one listens but now it is starting to become a problem when big news sites are starting to post bad reviews about the show!” Snoke claimed, nothing Kylo didn’t know.

“It’s the first bad review we’ve gotten from a big news site in almost two-“

“It is not good enough!” Snoke interrupted, raising his voice. The room had fallen silent, Kylo unable to find the right words to say.

“I gave you your own show! I let you pour my money, my time and my resources into this only for you become lazy! Slack! I thought you were capable, I suppose I was wrong.” Snoke slammed a fist onto the desk causing Kylo to jump slightly.

“One bad review doesn’t take away how well the show is going well! I am more than capable!” Kylo pleaded.

“Don’t make me regret giving you this one last chance Ren!” Snoke spat as he began pacing once more.

“In the meantime, we’re starting damage control. Pay off that Amelia Ackbar at _Jakku Daily_ to give stunning reviews for the rest of the season” Kylo nodded.

It felt wrong to pay people to say the show was good, the show was good in his eyes. But if this is what was needed to be done to stay in Snokes good graces, for the show to kept in his hands, then so be it. Next time he would do better.

“Let this be a lesson to you! Because there will be no next time young Ren! I can tell you that Armitage has been begging me for a chance to be showrunner in the event of your next fuck up! Now, get out of my sight”

Kylo left Snokes office with bruised ego and his hands in tight fists. He didn’t even say goodbye to Mia on his way out, instead he just pressed the button to level 8 hard and tried his best not to punch the elevators panel on his way down.

He couldn’t believe the nerve of Armitage Hux! The sniveling little rat! Going behind his back, trying to steal his job. Before, Armitage was nothing but a joke, not even close to a threat. But for now on he was going to keep an eye on that snake, he’d fire him if he could.

As the doors opened, Kylo wondered if anything else was going to happen to make his day worse. Maybe he could sneak past everyone and go home sick for the day, it was certainly an idea. It’s not as if anyone needed anything urgent today. As he walked past the interns desks, their eyes looked to him as if they anticipated that he was about to speak to them but instead he gave them a quick look to tell them not to bother him.

“Kylo!”  a voice trailed after him, he ignored it.

“Kylo!” the voice repeated himself, trailing after Kylo still.

“What?” he turned around to see Mitaka standing in front of him. He noted the kid looked like he was trembling.

“I don’t know how to tell you this boss but...” Mitaka leaned in mid sentence, stopping as if he was afraid to say what was to come next

“But what...”

“That panel in Los Angeles? The one you just agreed to attend and speak at...” Mitaka looked to the ground, avoiding Kylos puzzled look.

“Yes... what about it?”

“Er...Ah-“

“Spit it out Mitaka!”

“Luke Skywalker has also agreed to appear at the same panel, it’s just been announced on social media...”

Kylos lips formed a tight line. That was certainly the icing on the cake of a shitty day.

Instead of swearing his pants off in front of everyone in his office, he thanked the trembling kid before turning his back and making his way to his own office, jaw clenched.

Upon closing the door and sliding into his chair, he checked his phone to see a notification.

 **Leia Organa  
** _Congrats on your panel. Thought I’d give you a heads up before it’s announced since you’re obviously so so busy that you can’t answer a call from your mother for one second but Luke’s signed onto the same panel you’re attending in Los Angeles._

_Love you very much Ben x please call me some time._

Well, at least his mother cared enough to give him a heads up, even though it was too little too late. There was no comforting mantra to fix this, to soothe his rage. All he really wanted to do was smash up everything in his office, toss his laptop at the wall, throw his chair out the window.

 _‘Snoke would be pleased about that, I’m sure’_ he thought, giving himself a silent chuckle.

Sure, it would be easier to smash his office to oblivion, he’d feel better for maybe an hour but it wasn’t a final solution. He could drink his day away, Phasma eventually finding him on the rooftop and spending the rest of her afternoon pity drinking with him. He could smoke a pack or two and at end the day with a scratchy throat and a pack of lozenges. Or he could do his own damage control. Hit the problem where it started.

There was nothing he could do about Luke and the panel. That was his uncle trying to upstage him or humiliate him in a room full of people, maybe even reach out to him after how many years. There was always time to try pull out of that later. But there was something he could do now, something he could do to put an end to all of this bullshit.

“Abby, if anyone asks I’m off sick today,” Kylo said as he came out of his office, pulling on his coat.

“Okay Mr. Ren! Are you feeling okay?” she asked worryingly.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, walking away and fiddling with his scarf on his way to the elevator. He gave the rest of his staff no mind.

Once on the street he lit a cigarette and moved to the side of the building, letting the all the busy foot traffic pass him by without getting in the way. Kylo pulled out his phone, taking quick drags as he went into his browser and unblocked the website _‘ therebelpostonline.com _ _’_

Throwing his cigarette butt into the gutter, he slid into the Uber, he was on his way to confront Rey Niima and end this once and for all.

Kylo was surprised that the office for the paper was local, only 20 minute drive across the city. Expecting such a liberal paper to based in Portland or San Francisco. During the drive he prepared his little speech, what he would say to the man that’s been causing him trouble for almost a month now. What would this man look like? Would he punch this guy? Kylo reckoned if it had to come to that he would gladly do so. What would this man have to say for himself? Would he cower and apologize immediately? Realize that it’s easier to talk shit online than to say it to someone’s face. This guy has to be insufferable right? Anyone who tweeted about the environment that much had to be an annoying sack of shit.

As his journey through the city progressed, his leg bounced in anticipation. Fingers tapping on his knees consistently as his eyes locked onto the drivers GPS screen. The animated car moving closer and closer towards the red pin drop.

 _The Rebel Post_ didn’t have some office in some high rise building or some big fancy sign declaring its residence. Instead, it was a banner in the window, some old retail space turned into a headquarters. Kylo walked inside only to notice the nerd merch littered among the space. A community cork board advertising upcoming protests, community classes and programmes, small stickers saying ‘ _save the planet!_ ’ and ‘ _nasty woman_ ’. It wasn’t some prestige office space that had pictures of flowers or some landscape hanging off its white walls. It was chaotic and especially loud.

Electronic music bounced from wall to wall and Kylo noted there was no one manning the reception desk except for an old bell. Kylo tried pressing it a bunch of times, instead he watched as a man with thick, curly dark hair dancing around as his fellow employees ignored him.

“Ex-excuse me!” Kylo shouted into the office, capturing the attention of the dancing man who rushed over to the desk.

“Hi! How can I help?” he said, trying to compete over the music.

“I want to speak with Rey Niima!” Kylo said, yelling in his face.

The man leaned his ear closer to Kylo in an attempt to hear. “Who?”

“Rey Niima!”

And all of a sudden the music stopped and he was yelling into a quiet room filled with people who were all now looking at him. A blush crept up his cheeks.

The dancing man looked towards the desks, a dozen people looking in their direction until someone stood up.

“Yes?”

The last thing Kylo was expecting was Rey Niima to be a woman.  An attractive young woman at that. With soft bouncy brown hair in loose curls, wearing a floaty spotted navy skirt that reached just below her knees and short sleeved dark blouse.

“How can I help?” she had approached the desk. Kylo has been so busy taking all of her in that he hadn’t even noticed the dancing man leave them alone. She was face to face with him now and he was too busy taking in the faint freckles that painted her skin that he forgot to speak.

“I...I... is there a place we can speak privately?” he said in a hushed voice, leaning in a little close to her.

Well punching her in the face was out of the question. His big speech and the motivations he had upon arriving here seemed foiled.

“What’s this concerning?”

She was on high alert. Why wouldn’t she be? A strange man wanting to speak to a young woman alone with no context. This woman was a fighter. If it wasn’t clear from the ton of her articles then it was apparent in the way she held her ground.

“I’m interested in a few articles you’ve written and wanted to discuss with you further about them”

Kylo knew he would have to lull her into a false sense of security. It wasn’t a complete lie, he did want to the discuss the articles. Just not in the way she imagined. At first taken back, Rey Niima took it as a compliment someone would approach her about her writings.

“Oh...okay sure, I’ll just go grab my coat,” she smiled at him, returning to her desk to grab the black woolen coat that hung off her chair as Kylo stood, reflecting the last 2 minutes of his life.

She had ushered him outside onto the busy street, across the road to a small fountain and sat herself down on a park bench. All without saying any word, leaving Kylo feeling as if he had been plucked from his ordinary life and into a chaotic circus.

“Sorry about this, there’s not exactly a space in the office to speak privately,” Rey laughed lightly.

“That’s fine,” Kylo said stoically, taking his scarf off and nervous playing with it in his hands. He didn’t know how he was going to confront this now. Kylo silently wished Rey really had been a man.

“So, what can I do for you?” she innocently asked.

Kylo realized that even though this girl was pretty and under different circumstances, he would have done his best to woo her, she had been saying some shitty things online and that just wouldn’t do.

“I think you know very well who I am” he said, regaining the courage to confront her. She met him with a puzzled look.

“I don’t think we’ve ever met before...” Rey said, searching for his name.

This had just irritated him. Surely such a capable journalist would have image searched the name of a man she was about to trash online. It’s not like he didn’t have a Wikipedia page.

“Kylo, Kylo Ren! And I’m sure you’re familiar with the show I run. _The Knights_? You certainly have no problem trashing it online,” he snapped.

Rey’s bright and welcoming smile had turned into a straight line and a furrowed brow quite quickly, she began blinking furiously. For a moment a silence fell between them, Kylo eagerly awaited her response.

“I see...”

“Is that all you have to say for yourself?” he said, scolding her like she was a school child and he was a headmaster. Her head snapped to him, her beautiful nose painted with freckles scrunched up in anger.

“Yeah it is! Because I’m just doing my job!”

“Oh, so your job is to write trashy articles based on what 100 whiny fanboys have to say on an online forum? Some journalist you are.”

“Those are **your** fans you’re talking about. Do you not care what they have to say? Do their opinions not matter?”

“Of course their opinions matter-“

“Then why is it such a big deal that someone like me, from a small paper, is giving a platform for those opinions”

Getting the message across to this woman was going to be harder than Kylo anticipated, he was about to do the unthinkable.

“Look, look. Rey... I understand why you’ve been leaving the bad reviews, okay.” he leaned in closer to her, lowering his voice and trying to come across as gentle as possible.

Rey had stopped frowning now, her brow softening. She leaned in closer to at least hear what Kylo had to say.

“It’s not like your site is pulling in any viewers, you needed the clicks, I get it.” Rey blinked.

“But... I can help you, Rey: You and your dying site. We at the network can help with some funding and in exchange you can knock off the trashy articles for the rest of the season.”

“Excuse me?” Rey blinked furiously, launching herself up from the park bench.

“Are you trying to bribe me?” she said loudly, gaining some looks from by passers.

“Quiet down! I’m not trying to bribe you. I’m just saying you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”

The young woman started malfunctioning like a glitching robot before she could spit out the right words to rebut Kylo.

“The only reason I write such critical pieces on _The Knights_ is because I’m a big fan! Because I care about the show and so do other people!  I won’t let you try to pay me off like all the other journalist I imagine you have because I’m a real journalist and free press matters!” Rey turned to walk away only to turn back to face Kylo.

“Oh, and I’d rather die than take some shitty bribe from you! We’d burn the whole Post down to the ground before any of us took a bribe from you! So you can suck on that Mr. Ren! Good day.” she turned her back, an offensive finger lifted in the air as she refused to look back.

Kylo watched as she walked away, across the road and back into the _Rebel Post_ office. No doubt to tell her coworkers about the snooty showrunner who just tried to pay for good reviews.

‘ _That went amazingly_ ’ he thought, reaching for a cigarette.

That night we would lay awake thinking about the whole ordeal.

The shock of finding out Rey was a woman. Her soft curls, her tan complexion, how she smiled with her teeth, the way her skirt flowed under her knees as she walked, the scent of her floral perfume, how her nose scrunched up in outrage, the way she bared her teeth in anger, how her accent sounded like music to his ears even if she was yelling at him. And then he thought to Snoke and his failed attempt at damage control and how he really really hoped it wouldn’t get back to him somehow.

Kylo grabbed the pillow next to him and groaned into it. It was such a shame Rey was so attractive and that she wrote shitty reviews about his pride and joy and it was such a shame he had to come off as such an asshole about it.

* * *

It’s Tuesday afternoon, and Kylo Ren could be found on the rooftop of the First Order Network building. With an almost empty 6-pack of beer and his smartphone in hand.

 _Jakku Daily_ had come around, their reviews had returned to 4 and 1/2 stars. _The Rebel Post_ however gave him a 2 1/2 star and Kylo had a feeling that insulting Rey’s honor probably played a part in it.

Kylo sipped the last of the warm can, god he couldn’t wait for hiatus. On Friday, he had booked a week in Spain and a week in Italy after. It was an attempt to cheer him up, give him something to look forward too, distract him from the shit show that the first half of season three had been.

But the thing was that season three really hadn’t been that much of a shit show. The only one shitting on him was Rey. The rest of the papers and sites had given the show great reviews. There was a little slip up with _Jakku Daily_ and sure he had his job threatened but that was the television business. If your job wasn’t threatened at least five times per season, were you really making a television show?

Phasma was right. He should have really let this go.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding from everyone!” Phasma stood beside him, looking out to the view below.

“Have you been looking for me?” he looked up wearily

“No, I just came here for a cigarette but two birds, one stone,” she said, placing a cigarette in between her lips.

Kylo huffed, cracking open the last can of his cheap beer.

“Rey Niima is a female.”

“And how’d you figure that out?” she frowned.

“I met her.”

“Oh.” Phasma ashed her cigarette. “Well, give us a sip of that.” she said as she sat down next to him.

Kylo had passed her the can and she shot back some of the beer, wiping her mouth as she turned the can to see its label.

“Well this is certainly a new low: cheap beer. You couldn’t have brought some Heineken or something less yeasty?” she laughed slightly, passing the can back to Kylo who didn’t seem to share the same sentiment.

“Hux is gunning for my job too.”

“Armitage?” Phasma scoffed.

“That’s what Snoke told me when he called me into his office and spanked me.”

“I didn’t realize he was _that_ ambitious, it’s not like he’s said anything to me during our time together.”

“Yeah I don’t want to get into you and Armitage’s sweet sweet time together.” he shook his head, taking a small sip. “He’s a piece of shit snake anyways!”

Phasma rolled her eyes, she already knew Armitage was a big snake. They both did. If it wasn’t the impression he gave of a man who was ambitious, then it was his past behaviour they had the joy to experience while they worked with him. Ruthless, arrogant, demanding, always waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Phasma also knew none of those traits translated well into the bedroom, at least not her bedroom.

“So why did Snoke bend you over and spank you?”

“ _Jakku Dailys_ last week’s review and all the business with Rey Niima and fucking _Rebel Post._ ”

“Ah, right”

“Snoke’s started on damage control but I think I might have made things worse”

“What? What did you do?” her eyes widened.

“Well I met Rey Niima and I may or may not have tried to bribe her and she may or may not have taken offence to that”

“Oh, Kylo”

“Yeah yeah, you don’t have to lecture me about my fuck up, I’m aware”

“Do you think Niima’s going to let loose that you tried to bribe her for reviews? Because that would be a great way to get that site of hers some attention” Phasma stood up now, wiping any dust or pebbles off of her black dress.

“I’m just hoping Snoke doesn’t find out, or else I’m fucked”

“Fucked indeed.” Phasma reached her hand out, offering to help Kylo up.

Kylo had returned to his desk after his talk with Phasma. It’s not like he could stay up on that rooftop all day, besides he smoked his last cigarette. It was 4:55pm, people were starting to leave the office and make their home, including Abby who wished Kylo a goodnight only for her to be met with a mumble and a wave goodbye.

Kylo stared at his laptop screen. On that screen was Rey Niimas twitter profile. He had clicked _Send Message_ thirty minutes ago but couldn’t find the right words to type.

He had finally settled on:

‘ _Hi, I just want to talk. I don’t want this to be hostile_ ’

Closing his laptop and shoving it into his bag, he made his way out. Only editors, writers and the sound guys were staying late tonight. Kylo said his goodnights to the rest of his staff as he made his way to the elevator

During the Uber home, sitting in traffic for 20 minutes gave Kylo the time to continue refreshing his Twitter messages, waiting for Rey to reach back to him.

He didn’t know exactly what he was going to say. Maybe an apology would be a good start but he didn’t want to make things worse. After all, one bad move and next thing you know, there’s an article about how the First Order bribes papers for good reviews and then that’s Hux’s career on the rise and Kylo’s own career dead in the water. He would never be able to work in television again. Rey Niima didn’t have the faintest ideas she held all of the cards in her hands.

Getting home, he still waited for the message that would never come. Tapping on the message thread, instead of a ‘ _seen_ ’ he was greeted with ‘ _you can no longer reply to this message_ ’. Inspecting her twitter profile and he was met with ‘ _you can no longer see @ReyNiima’s tweets_ ’. She had blocked him. He guessed that was the end of that.

* * *

Two weeks later, _The Knights_ had aired its mid season finale before going on hiatus and Kylo couldn’t have been happier. He was on holiday for at least a month or two if he was lucky and he was in desperate need of the sun, good food and pleasant luxuries Europe had to offer.

In the office, Kylo wrapped up a few loose ends before leaving on break. Looking at the reviews of last night’s episode, he realized something was missing.

There was no angry _Rebel Post_ review in his notifications at all. He expected more from Rey if he was honest, especially after something as big as a mid season finale. Typing in '  _therebelpostonline.com'_ into his browser bar, the site was gone. It was not blocked, it had just completely disappeared.

‘ _Okay, strange_ ’ Kylo thought, going to Twitter and typing in _Rebel Posts_ name into the search bar.

The Twitter account was gone, like it had never existed in the first place and Rey still had him blocked so he had no clue what was going on. Kylo should have been popping champagne, the only news site giving him shitty reviews had vanished from existence but instead he was concerned.

He had kept refreshing, expecting it to be some Twitter glitch or some Chrome glitch but alas it wasn’t so. _The Rebel Post_ hadn’t magically reappeared. Kylo frowned, shutting his laptop lid.

He didn’t know what compelled him to do so but he ordered himself an Uber. The idea finally catching up with him as soon as the car pulled away from the kerb. Of course, he could have just told the guy to stop the car and let him out, walked back to the office or just in another direction but he remained in the car.

Kylo wasn’t too sure what he was expecting, what he would do when he got there.

‘ _Oh hey! I was just making sure your paper was still running even though you shit on my show weekly_ ’ he thought ‘ _sounds so fucking dumb_ ’ Kylo shook his head. He really shouldn’t be concerned.

But he found himself outside _The Rebel Post_ office instead.

It wasn’t the same eccentric paper he had seen nearly a month ago. It seemed dead and empty from the outside. The banner was no longer hanging in the window. Something had to be wrong.

He let himself in only to see the saddest sight before him. Half the place packed up. That community corkboard was no longer hanging on the wall, it was slumped on the floor, leaning on the same wall it once proudly hung on. Empty desks were shoved into a corner of the room. The ones that weren’t were half packed with half full cardboard boxes sitting on top. The nerd merch was gone too, it’s owner had taken it back. It was a sad sight to see indeed. Even sadder to see the soft curled brown haired girl with her head down, packing a photo frame gently into a box.

Kylo couldn’t help but approach her, not caring if there were others around them packing their own stuff away. She was too preoccupied with her belongings to notice him until he spoke.

“What’s happened here?” he asked, her head shooting up to meet his only for him to be greeted with a frown.

“What do you want?” Rey spoke quietly, packing an action figurine into her box.

“I noticed you hadn’t trashed the show online, I got worried,” he joked.

“Well you don’t need to worry about me trashing you and your stupid show anymore.”

“And why would that be?”

“Why are you acting like you don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“Don’t know that your boss bought the paper, shut us down, and made me and twelve other people jobless! With nowhere to go!”

“I...I didn’t know that!”

“That... wrinkly ball sack you call a boss made my boss an offer he couldn’t refuse and now we’re here.”

Kylo felt a pang of guilt. When Snoke talked about damage control, he didn’t know he had meant buying a whole company to stop said company from shitting on his show. If he could go back in time, he wouldn’t have made such a fuss about it in the first place.

But for a moment he laughed loudly, much to Rey’s confusion.

“Why...why are you laughing?” she huffed

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh but... no one’s called Snoke a wrinkly ball sack before... it’s fitting” Kylo gently smiled, hoping it could make Rey feel slightly better. She had stopped huffing, trying to meet Kylo with a slight smile only to look down to the box of her belongings.

“Look, I feel shitty about this. Let me buy you lunch or dinner, something.”

“I think you’ve done enough,” Rey said, swallowing hard.

Kylo fished a receipt out of his pocket, finding a pen on the desk beside him.

“If you change your mind text me, I’m away for a couple weeks next week but I’ll be back in the city after that alright?” he said, scribbling down his number and leaving it on the desk next to her box.

Rey would never know but as she stood in place, picking the piece of paper up from the desk, Kylo watched as he walked past the window, lingering for a moment. Smiling to himself as she slipped the paper in her pocket instead of screwing it up and throwing it away like he had expected her too.

* * *

Kylo had enjoyed his two weeks in Europe. Disappointed that he came back home without the slightest bit of a tan, he was already so pale. Despite that, the food was excellent and the days spent poolside or on a beach were much needed. Not a single soul uttered the words ‘ _The Knights_ ’ or ‘ _First Order_ ’ which was like a breath of fresh air. Indulging in fine whiskey, Italian tailored suits and foreign cigarettes, he considered never coming back for a good moment.

But then his mind turned to Rey.

Laying back in a lounger poolside, sipping some fruity cocktail because when in Rome (or more accurately Spain), staring at his messages window and waiting for a text that would never come. It was the downside of his holiday.

He was back now sadly, unpacking only one of his suitcases before losing motivation and collapsing onto his bed. Call it a bad case of jet lag.

As Kylo woke, his eyes wandered to his open window, it was almost sunset. Or was it sunrise? Kylo groaned as he reached into his pocket for his phone.

**6:23pm**

And then his eyes glanced to his notifications. One from Phasma, one from Mitaka, one from his mother, 57 emails (that was not an issue for today’s Kylo), and one from an unknown number.

 **Unknown number:  
**It’s Rey, are you back?

Kylo scrambled to sit up, sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the text. He couldn’t believe Rey would even text. Back at the office she seemed too proud, something they had in common he supposed.

‘ _Hey! Yeah I am. Just got back yesterday_ ’

 **From Rey:  
**You can buy dinner then. In an hour, your choice of location?

 **To Rey:  
**Yeah sure. Brown Bear on 7th?

 **From Rey:  
**Cool, meet u there

Kylo had begun to scramble, trying to sort a last minute reservation while fixing his messy bed hair.

Rey looked gorgeous, he certainly didn’t deserve her company. She wore a black crop singlet with matching high waisted trousers and a black and white checkered cardigan. Kylo was afraid he’d forget to speak as he met her outside the restaurant.

“Hi” she greeted him, nervously holding her clutch in front of herself. Rey did not greet him with that big and bright smile that she had greeted him with when they had first met. A reminder to Kylo to not to fuck this up.

“Hey, shall we?” he held the door open for her, letting her walk through first. Her hair smelled like vanilla and jasmine

‘ _Get your shit together!_ ’ he silently begged himself.

The waiter had shown them their table, tucked into a corner of the room, intimate. The restaurant itself was busy for a Wednesday night. Any highly rated restaurant in New York City was and Kylo was lucky enough to know the manager, exchanging spoilers for a reservation.

The tablecloths that lay on the tables were of white silk. Set with polished wine glasses, pure white napkins and fine cutlery. A candle lit in the middle of the table. Kylo didn’t want to give the impression that this was a romantic affair, although it would have been nice. Looking around he realized each table was decorated with one, a relief.

Ordering their first drinks, Kylo ordering his usual whiskey, Rey ordering some expensive cocktail featuring orange and raspberry.

“So you went away?” Rey said, sipping through the straw.

“Yeah, Spain and Italy for a couple of weeks. It was good.” he had hoped he hadn’t offended her, flashing around the fact he could afford to go on holiday abroad when she’s jobless.

“That’s good,” she smiled. The air between them becoming awkward and stale as they sipped their drinks.

“So, are you working anywhere?”

“No, not yet. My friend might hook me up with a gig at a bookstore though,” Rey smiled optimistically.

Kylo didn’t know what to say, he still felt that guilt for Snoke buying the company she worked for and chucking her out on the street. And her working for some bookstore, not using her talents, made him feel worse.

“How did you become a showrunner?” she asked quietly.

“Well I got promoted after working on the _Battleship_ reboot. _The Knights_ is my first show running gig.”

“I didn’t really like _Battleship_ , not to my taste.”

“Yeah, I don’t like it that much either,” he laughed.

“So did you always want to work in the television industry?”

“Not exactly, as a kid I wanted to be a race car driver or an astronaut. I was born into it.” he signaled to the waiter to bring another whiskey.

“How about you? Did you always want to work in the journalism industry?”

“Kind of. I wanted to be a writer as a kid, always would make up stories. Being a journalist seemed to be more of an achievable way to write and make money. I write my own stories on my own time when I can.”

“I mean, that’s pretty cool. I’ve done some writing myself for a couple of television shows mostly. You should send me some of your stuff some time, I would love to read it”

“Yeah, we’ll see.”

They had smiled at each other, and Kylo stared at her, taking in more of her features and noticed how her hazel eyes lit up.

“So what show did you start your career in? Anything I would know?” she asked

“Uh...maybe. I started on a show called _The Jedi_ years ago”

“ _The Jedi_?” she repeated, almost choking on her cocktail.

The waiter had come to take their order. He had ordered the garlic buttered steak and potatoes and she had the nerve to order the lobster. Rey had smiled quite wide at Kylo as she handed the menu back to the waiter. But he hadn’t mind, he said he’d buy dinner. One lobster or twenty lobsters wouldn’t make up for the damage he’s done.

“I loved _The Jedi_ as a teenager! My favourite episode was ‘ _Master of the Force_ ’. It’s always really stuck with me, even now”

“Well you’re looking at the guy who wrote it”

“What? You wrote it?”

“Co-wrote it, yeah”

“I know the credits for that episode inside out, there’s no Kylo Ren on there”

“That’s because it’s under my real name”

“Your real name?”

“Yeah, I changed my name when I moved to the First Order”

“What’s wrong with your real name?” Rey laughed

“I didn’t want to be connected to my family, the First Order allowed me to have more freedom and control than my...uncle ever did”

Kylo didn’t enjoy bringing up his past work with his uncle or the Skywalker network. It wasn’t exactly a secret or anything he was trying to hide but sometimes could be a sore spot. Often he would tell himself that he was over it, it’s in the past and things are good now. It didn’t stop him from not reaching out to his uncle, his mother and father and didn’t stop the sad look that had come across Rey’s face.

“Anyways, enough about me. How about you, where you from?”

Rey was from London, she much preferred being here though. She had never had lobster before, admitting she was taking advantage of Kylos hospitality. She liked it, but liked Kylos garlic potatoes better, stealing one off his plate. With her extra time off, Rey volunteered in between writing, cleaning the rivers of litter with her friend Rose on Thursdays. She was afraid of heights, was a dog person, preferred cider over beer and her favourite colour was yellow.

“Look, Rey, is there any way I can do anything to help? Pay for your groceries or your rent or something?” he said as they left the restaurant, holding the door open for her.

“No, this was enough.”

“Are you sure I just feel-“

“This was enough. Thank you” she said, holding her hand out to stop him from going on any further.

“Okay” Kylo accepted her protest, not trying to push it any further.

“You know, I thought you were a mega asshole. I didn’t even know why I text you tonight, thought this was going to turn to shit pretty quickly, but you’re not all that bad after all” she admitted.

Kylo didn’t blame her. His first impression was not exactly the greatest and then came the whole his boss essentially making her jobless. Hearing that he wasn’t a mega asshole as she initially thought made Kylo feel slightly relieved.

“Thanks for tonight,” she said.

“You’re very welcome.”

“Goodnight Kylo,” she smiled.

“Goodnight Rey.”

Kylo watched her walk away down the busy street. Others had moved past him so quickly but he was stuck in the spot he stood, watching as she turn the corner. But before she was out of his sight he noticed as she looked back for a moment before disappearing, leaving Kylo to shake himself out his trance.

As Kylo sat in his ride home, looking out the window as the city passed him by, two things occurred to him. One was that he liked Rey and the second was that he really really liked Rey. The fact that she trashed his show and himself online, got him into shit with Snoke, made a month or more of his life a living hell, and may have been the reason for his upcoming mental breakdown plus the start of a more serious drinking problem didn’t matter. She was smart, she was selfless and maybe one of the most genuine people he had met in a while. He liked the way she talked and the way she scrunched up her nose in anger, but tonight he realized he liked the way she smiled at him, the way her eyes lit up when she spoke of her passions, and how she wasn’t afraid to steal the food off his plate.

‘ _Oh I’m fucked_ ’ he thought, gently hitting his head on the window of the car.

Kylo hadn’t had a relationship in years. He had tried with a girl he had met at Comic Con years ago but she lived halfway across the country. That was never going to work. Then trying with a girl who worked on the floor below him when he had first started with the First Order Network. They had had a few dates before Snoke had caught on that he was very distracted, recommending that if Kylo was to remain at the network, then it was best he didn’t have any distractions. They had only had three dates before Kylo had to dump her, shortly after Snoke saw that she was fired anyway.

Kylo was bad at love, and he was getting ahead of himself.

That night, Kylo lay awake, recounting the evening he had shared with Rey. Wondering if there was a connection there between them, if she had felt it too. Or if it was all in his head and she still hated him and really just wanted free dinner because she was unemployed.

It was 12:39am when his phone vibrated next to him, Kylo pounced at it.

 **Rey  
**Thanks again for tonight

 **Rey  
**It sounds sad but my friends ditched our plans for tonight and I didn’t want to stay in on my own so it was nice to have the company.

 **Kylo  
**No problem, you alone a lot?

 **Rey  
**Most of the time, my roommate’s never here. She’s a flight attendant

 **Kylo  
**Ah! Well just remember if you ever need anything, you’re not alone

 **Rey  
**Neither are you. Goodnight :)

Holding his phone to his chest, Kylo swore his heart melted.

* * *

 

Kylo always found meetings quite boring, even when he was the one leading them. He was still on break and yet he was at work, thinking about all the places he could be instead.

Marketing was going on about the themes of the promotional shots, even though the lease photographer for shoot should have been handling it. Typical Marcus sticking his nose in where he didn’t need too.

As he swiveled in his chair at the front of the table he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Ignoring it, he tried to focus on whatever Armitage had to say about cinematography but his phone vibrates again in quick succession. Whatever the message was, it was probably a whole lot more interesting than Armitage droning on and on.

 **Rey  
**It’s you

 **Rey  
**You

In the first text, Rey had sent him a picture of The Hulk. The second, a picture of a large refrigerator. Kylo scoffed, looking up quickly to meet Armitages scowl.

 **To Rey:  
**The Hulk?

 **Rey  
**You’re big and you get angry real quick

 **To Rey:  
**And refrigerator?

 **Rey  
**Big

Kylo couldn’t help but roll his eyes. As the conversation moved forward, Kylo heard snippets of “award season” and “salaries” but he continued to take no notice. Instead, scrolling through Google Images. Settling on a photo of a chihuahua, he sent it through to Rey. There was nothing else to do but wait for a response. Well there was the meeting to pay attention too but he would just get Abby to send through the minutes later.

 **Rey  
**because im loveable?

 **To Rey:  
**No because your small

 **To Rey:  
**And you have a bit of a bite

 **Rey  
**IM NOT THAT SHORT!

 **Rey  
**I’m an average height for a woman I’ll have you know!!

 **To Rey:  
**I’m sure you are

 **Rey  
**Just because you’re a giant who towers over us mere mortals

 **Rey  
**Also i like to think of myself as pomeranian

“What’s got you all giddy” Armitage said.

Kylo looked up from his phone, the smile on his lips turning to a straight line as he slid his phone into his pocket.

“Nothing”

* * *

Kylo couldn’t focus.

He was called into work once again during his break to talk to his departments. Ensuring a busy couple of days.

The director was for the last episode of the season was new to the show and needed to discuss things that could not be discussed simply over email. Three new episodes were finished and needed to be reviewed before being sent off, and if they needed to be fixed that meant making a large list of notes and sending them to his respective heads. The lead writer wanted to meet with Kylo to make sure next seasons premiere was good to go (a script that could have been simply emailed to him), marketing wanted his go ahead on new promotional images (another easy task that could have been emailed to him). The list could have gone on and on, it was his job and so he turned up to the office and hoped to get it all out of the way as soon as possible.

His mind had not stopped fixating on Rey. He felt is if it was his duty to make it up to her, dinner was not enough. It was the only thing on his mind, zoning out in meetings. More than often would someone have to tell him something twice.

Maybe he could offer her a room at his, rent-free. He would love that, seeing her every day. Except that felt as if it would be more for him than her. The thought did cross his mind to offer her a place at the network but Snoke would not have any of that and Phasma would ask if he’s lost his mind.

He sat in the Uber home, holding the USB thumb drive in his pocket, Kylo had a eureka moment.

 **To: Rey  
**Are you free tonight?

 **Rey  
**I’m free pretty much every night

 **To: Rey  
**Did you want to do something?

 **Rey  
**What did you have in mind??

Kylo paced into his living room and into the kitchen, back and forth. Inspecting each room twice and a mirror in the hallway to make sure he didn’t look too foolish. Would it be presumptuous to inspect his bedroom? Of course it would be.

Kylo opted to get a drink to calm his nerves, sculling the first glass and pouring himself another, he nursed this second glass as he began pacing again. She should be here any moment now.

He played with tumbler before he heard the doorbell ring. She was here. Kylo sculled the rest of the glass, slamming it onto the marble kitchen counter before making his way to the front door to meet her.

“Hi,” she smiled as he opened the door.

“Hey...come in,” Kylo greeted her, bewildered for a moment before opening the door wide and ushering her inside.

“Nice place you got here.” Rey looked around the lobby, turning to flash Kylo a smile.

“I was still sharing a place when _The Knights_ first came on air so when I got a bonus at the end of the first season, I figured I’d get myself my own place,” Kylo said, leading Rey into the kitchen.

She didn’t say anymore, instead smiling and nodding as she looked around his kitchen. Kylo went behind the breakfast bar while Rey sat herself down on the kitchen stool.

“Drinking already?” She asked, signaling her gaze to the empty tumbler.

“Oh! Yeah...” Kylo said, trying to play it cool “... just relaxing after work.” Not really, just trying to calm his nerves.

“Thought you were still on break”

“Yeah but you know, show runners never are truly on break. Did you want a drink? I have pretty much anything.”

“I’ll just have a glass of orange juice for now if you have it.”

“Sure,” he smiled, pouring himself another whiskey before reaching into the fridge and pouring Rey a glass of her own.

“So what are we doing?”

“Well, you’re in for a treat tonight.”

“Is that so?” she said, following him into the living room.

“Yes, exclusive access to the latest episodes of _Knights_ ,” Kylo said as he plugged the USB drive into his television.

“Ooh I am in for a treat,” Rey smiled as she settled into the couch.

“The network wants me to look these over and see if anything needs changing so I figured I’d ask my biggest critic for help.”

“I am no longer your biggest critic, but I’m more than willing to help.”

He sat on the other side of the couch, fumbling with the remote and turning the episode on. Kylo had to admit, having Rey curled up at the end of his sofa felt natural. Like she’d been curled up there many times before. Half way through the episode, he had realized he had been watching her instead of his work.

She was so attentive. He watched her face change with each scene. A frown, a small chuckle, she only rarely glanced his way, fixated on the episode in front of her. It made Kylo weak in the knees. Reminded him why he stuck with being in television in the first place. It was because of reactions like Rey’s, it made all the other bullshit worthwhile.

“Kylo,” she said softly as the screen faded to black. He turned his head quickly, looking to her. Rey wore a smile as she spoke.

“That was great! Truly.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, I do have some suggestions, however.”

“Here we go,” he joked.

“There are some parts I’d maybe reconsider, maybe shorten some bits to give length to other scenes, but I really enjoyed it.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

They shared a smile. Rey’s eyes lingered on his, Kylo having to physically pull away from his own gaze. He stood up, offering Rey another drink. She accepted, this time going for a glass of red.

“You know what we need? Blankets!” Rey said, accepting the glass from Kylo.

“I’m on it,” he obliged, bringing her the first one he could find.

It was a large grey fleece blanket, large enough to fit both of them under. Kylo couldn’t believe he was sharing a blanket with her, she still sat at the end of the couch with Kylo sitting in the middle to evenly share the blanket. Rey got herself comfortable, laying her legs across his lap.

“You know, I must say that I’ve thought about getting into television. Maybe write a few TV scripts.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! I have some decent enough ideas. I mean seeing what you do, I’m kind of jealous.”

“Don’t be, being a showrunner is not what people think it is. I’d much rather be back in the writing room or slacking off at the intern desks. If I’m honest, no one ever told me how hard this was going to be.”

“Of course it’s hard being at the top but you should be proud of yourself, it’s a really good show and you’ve worked really hard in your career to get to this point.”

Kylo almost went pink. He was not used to such genuine praise. Snoke rarely gave it out, the same as his Uncle, so when it was given by them he would be on cloud nine. Hanging on for one more pat on the back, one more sentence filled with validation. He was needy for it, craved it. To be told he was doing the right thing, that his work meant something. Rey had almost made him felt embarrassed.

“Thanks,” he said, shying away from her gaze and taking a sip of his own glass.

“I mean it. I don’t mean to sound weird or stalky but I went through all the stuff you did with your old name and your new name and I’m really impressed. I didn’t realize how much you’ve actually contributed to _The Jedi_.”

Kylos heart skipped a beat. He had no idea what else Rey found but he had a wave of embarrassment crash over him. He really hoped she hadn’t seen all the old photos of him from when he was at the Skywalker Network. Oh god, 2010’s Comic Con pictures. He dressed up for the hell of it. A clip on rats tail and brown jedi robe. And any other pictures from 2010 till 2013 where he sported an awkward and unflattering haircut that showed off his big ears. He was cringing on the inside.

“That means a lot, Rey. Especially from you,” he said, trying to play it cool. She smiled back at him, getting herself comfier. Kylo had found himself with his hands resting on her legs after finishing off his glass.

“Seriously if you want to send me some of your work I would be more than happy to look over it. Maybe see if I can hook you up with someone to point you in the right direction.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course.”

‘ _Anything for you_ ’ he thought.

Kylo enjoyed Rey’s company and he was sure she enjoyed his too. She had her head in his lap by the start of the third episode, after two more glasses of wine. Kylo cautiously stroked the hair away from her face, and when she made no protest, he continued to gently play with her hair. He had hoped she wouldn’t be able to hear his heart beating, surely she couldn’t from where her head was placed, but it was beating a million miles an hour. Kylo was not used to having such contact with a woman, his dating life always in shambles.  Snoke drumming in his head that work was more important than almost every other human connection out there. Kylo was beginning to see that that was a load of shit. With Rey on his lap and his fingers twirling around her soft locks, he realized he had no desire to be an old bitter man, alone with a mountains of gold and cash with no one to share it with.

He had wondered if Rey felt it too. The calm he felt when he was with her, how content he was being in her presence. He wondered if dating was a rare thing for her too, how long had it been since she dated anyone, kissed anyone. Felt a proper connection. Deep down was she lonely too? She had to be, surely. From what he could gather. Her nights empty of plans and her home empty of anyone except for her. Sure she had friends, but not even friends could fill the hole having someone who loved you did. Kylo knew that well enough and he didn’t even have a proper friend in the world to begin with. Phasma of course, but even then.

Kylo enjoyed his time with her, barely focusing on the episode. He knew he would have to re-watch all of them and make his big list of notes. But all of it was worth it when she started drawing circles on his knee. By the time the episode ended, Rey was half asleep on his lap. She sluggishly got up from his lap and rubbed her eyes.

“Is that the time?” She said as she checked her mobile. It was later edging on 11:30pm.

“Yeah. I guess it is.”

“Time sure flies huh?” she sheepishly smiled.

“If you want you can crash here or I could order you a ride home, on me.”

“I wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome,” Rey said humbly.

There was no way she could overstay her welcome, but Kylo wasn’t going to push her, he’d rather her be as comfortable as possible. Kylo handed his phone to Rey with the Uber app open. She had ordered her ride and chatted about the episode as they waited, Kylo dreading the moment her ride arrived.

“I had a really good time tonight,” she said as he walked her to the front door.

“So did I.”

“We should do it again sometime.”

“I’d like that very much,” Rey smiled at him.

As he opened the door for her, she stood on her tiptoes, leaning in close to Kylo. Their eyes met as she leaned in and softly left a kiss on his cheek. Kylo could feel his heart jump into his throat.

“Goodnight,” Rey smiled as she walked outside.

“Night,” he waved, watching her walk down the path and into the Uber before he closed the door.

Kylo couldn’t believe it. He lay in bed thinking about how soft her lips felt on his cheek, the warmth between them as she leaned in closer. The feel of her soft chestnut strands between his fingers, how soft her fingers felt stroking his knees even through rough denim. How lucky he was not to get hard at her touch and ruin the moment. Kylo tossed and turned that night, in over his head for sure.

The next morning, he had woken later. Checking his phone to find a long list of suggestions from Rey.

‘ _Don’t think I didn’t forget to write it all down ;) didn’t want you to get off too easily_ ’ her text read.

* * *

Los Angeles was a week away and Kylo was busy busy busy. He had forgotten all about his uncle and cancelling the event so now he was stuck committed to it. The show was about to come back onto the air and the finale was in editing stages now. The new scripts for the new season had just been written as well.

They had been renewed for another season which was great news for Kylo and the network. He had text Rey straight away. She congratulated him and Kylo had suggested they go out for dinner and champagne to celebrate. That was two weeks ago and Kylo had been so busy that he hadn’t been able to commit to anything solid, much to Kylos disappointment. Kylo had promised to make it up to her for his flakiness, offering to take her out once he got back from Los Angeles. She didn’t seem to be upset at all, happily taking him up on his offer and stating that she understood how busy he was.

Ever since she had come over and watched _The Knights_ episodes, they texted each other every day. Even if it was something as small as ‘ _how are you_ ’ or ‘ _hope you’re having a good day_ ’. Some days the latter was all Kylo could offer but he wanted her to know he was thinking about her.

On this day, Kylo found himself swamped in his office. Reading through the scripts and scribbling notes on the sides of the margins. He had not left his office all day except for one short toilet break. He was itching for a coffee around now, something to ask Abby to do once she came back to her desk. Wherever she was.

“Knock knock,” Phasma had said, not knocking at all instead just opening the door to his office and making herself known.

“What’s up?”

“Figured you needed a lunch break,” she said, lingering in the doorway

“I can’t go out of the office today, I’m swamped with all this shit. Besides what time is it?”

Looking at the time on his phone, 1:30pm.

“Fuck! Is it really that late?”

“You best believe it. Anyways, I already ordered us lunch you just need to go downstairs and get it in 10 minutes.”

“And why can’t you?”

“Because I’ll be getting us a coffee from the cafeteria. Someone looks like they’re in need of a coffee. Meet me on the rooftop, you look in dire need of a cigarette, too.”

“Where would I be without you?”

“Probably dead,” she said, walking away.

Phasma was right, he was in dire need of cigarette and a coffee. Some days he wondered why she wasn’t his own assistant, god knows he needed her. Except her talent would probably be wasted on just being an assistant alone.

 **Phasma  
**Foods here, mind getting it? Just omw to rooftop now

Kylo rode the elevator to the bottom floor, exiting the building and trying to find the delivery person. He looked up and down the street and saw a girl getting off her bike with a bag of food in her basket. Kylo assumed this was the lunch order and made his way to the girl. She looked up from settling her bike on the wall only for him to find it was-

“Rey? What are you doing here? Why do you have my food?”

“Kylo! This is for you? Thought it was for a...Phasma.”

“She’s a work friend, ordered me lunch.”

“She sounds nice. So you work here then?” she said looking up at the high rise.

Rey seemed so relaxed, like this was so normal so casual. Kylo was shocked, surprised to be sure.

“So you’re...”

“An Uber eats driver, well biker. The bookstore job is only a once a week thing so I’m mixing it up while I look for something more permanent. I’m freelance writing on the side too, mostly lame teenage articles and the occasional travel blog.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I don’t know, it never got brought up. But I’m okay Kylo. My rents paid each week and I’m not starving on anything,” she smiled. Kylo nodded, unsure of what to say.

“Well, hurry up then. Go have your lunch, it will get cold otherwise!” Rey handed him the paper bag.

Before she could hop back onto her bike, Kylo rushed to hug her. Wrapping one arm around her waist, in return she wrapped both her arms around his neck. He squeezed slightly before letting her go.

“Were still on for dinner next week?” she said, getting onto her bike.

“Of course!”

“I’ll see you then,” Rey peddled off, ringing her bell twice and waving as she avoided pedestrians on the sidewalk.

As Kylo rode the elevator back up to the rooftop, he couldn’t help but feel conflicted. Rey was a great writer, her articles and reviews weren’t bad at all.

She was only at the beginning of her career as a journalist and Kylo felt like he had ruined it all. Snoke played more of a part and he was the truly guilty party in this, but he felt like he was guilty by association. Kylo thought he had left these feeling in the past, him and Rey were on great terms there was no bad blood. The guilt started to rise within him again. Rey was smart, beautiful, and bright and had more potential than just doing odd jobs and dropping off people’s food. Not that there wasn’t any honor in odd jobs or being a delivery girl but Kylo just knew there was more to her than that. And there he was feeling shit about himself again.

“We haven’t had a proper catch up in awhile,” Phasma said as she put the empty food container into the paper bag in between them.

“You know how this time of year is.”

“Well, I thought I’d let you know that I kicked Armitage to the curb.”

“What?”

“I had my fun and he seemed to be getting really into it, so I thought I better let him go before he could get his feelings really hurt.”

“How did he take it?”

“As well as you could expect.”

“Explains why he’s been a sad sack recently.”

“It’s not like me to avoid confrontation but even I’m trying my best to avoid him.” she lit her cigarette and sipped her coffee.

“What’s been happening with you? You don’t seem all there.”

“Just... having to see my uncle in L.A” Kylo lied. He was nervous about that for sure, but bringing up that he was meeting up with Rey would lead him to be up on that rooftop talking away all afternoon.

“It’s a rough situation for sure.”

Phasma knew all about his situation with the Skywalker network and Luke Skywalker. She was his earliest friend at the First Order and he had been a wreck when he first came to the network. Over the years she could tell he had mellowed out but the name Skywalker still gave him the slightest of a nervous twitch.

“But you’re not 20 anymore, begging for his approval. You are your own man, show-running a successful show for over three years now and that is all on you. When you go up there, he will realize that he doesn’t know as much as he thought he did.”

“Thanks Phasma, means a lot.”

His mind was still conflicted about Rey, but at least his nerves were calm about Luke.

“Fuck the Skywalker Network!”

“Fuck the Skywalker Network,” he said back to her, clinking their takeaway coffee mugs together and taking a drag of his cigarette.

Kylo was fed and caffeinated now and was more than capable of being able to complete the rest of his busy work. However when he got back into his office he just stared blankly at the scripts, tapping the pen against his hand.

Rey had insisted he had made it up to her, and he had actually believed her. But now he realized he had obviously not done enough. Kylo was starting to wonder if giving her the whole galaxy would lift the weight of his shoulders. If that is what it took.

By the time Kylo had finished with the scripts and it was time to close the door to his office and make his way home, he knew what he needed to do.

* * *

It was hot in Los Angeles when Kylo touched down. It was always hot in Los Angeles. Kylo was feeling irritable after the five hour flight. He had been squished between a rather larger man and a loud woman, you can imagine his discomfort as he sat between the two, both parties who took up both of the armrests.

After two beers, Kylo needed to desperately go to the bathroom. Standing up and squeezing past the woman was awkward for the overly tall man, Kylo felt relief and less claustrophobic once he got into the aisle. Two more hours into the flight, he found himself needing to relieve himself again. This time he would rather much hold it. It wasn’t the most pleasant of flights he had taken, and he sat there typing out the whole experience to Rey, finally sending it once he touched down.

 **Rey  
**Hey! That sounds like the absolute fucking worst!!! But at least you made it safely!

 **Kylo  
**With tomorrow’s event, I’m kind of wishing I didn’t make it safely

He was thankful the convention organized everything for him. Flights, transport, hotel. All he had to do was follow the instructions sent to him by the planners.

A man greeted him at the gate, holding a sign with his name on it.

“Mr. Ren?”

“That’s me.”

“Let me take that for you sir”

The man was kind enough to take his luggage to the car, realizing Kylo didn’t want a conversation when he started to drive away from the airport.

Kylo stared down at his phone, swiping up and down his notifications bar as he waited for Rey to respond to his last text. She didn’t respond until much later. In that time he had arrived at the hotel, spent an hour or two switching through the channels before he made his way down to the hotel restaurant and bar.

 **Rey  
**I wouldn’t say that. It’s one day, you can do it! x

Was that an x? Kylo had placed his phone down on the bar counter and reached for his drink, staring down at the text until the light faded from his mobile.

‘ _An_ _x means a kiss and you don’t send that shit to just anyone... right?_ ’ He downed the rest of his drink, signaling to the bartender to order another as he entered his phone.

_‘Maybe her fingers slipped’_

‘ _X isn’t close to the send button is it?_ ’

Kylo started typing up a message then erasing said message over and over. He had written a dozen romance plot lines in his time, many romantic lines that made hearts implode, smooth one liners that made knees wobble, and yet he was finding it difficult to type the right thing.

 **Kylo  
**Thank you for having faith in me. I suppose getting through tomorrow means I’m one day closer to having dinner with you x

Was it the smoothest thing he could have said? No but it would do. Otherwise he would be staring at the message all night.

He had received a call from the events manager on his way back to his room. Just basic run down of tomorrow’s schedule, when the car would be sent for him and such. After the call, Kylo had put his phone on charge next to the queen sized bed.

He stripped down to his underwear, chucking his clothes into a pile before he hopped into bed.

Kylo channel surfed, switching channels before its content could even make a sound. There was 200 channels in this hotel, there had to be something to watch. Changing to the next channel, something caught his eye. He changed it back and slumped down into the bed. It was an old re run of The Jedi. An episode Kylo had a hand in making.

In that moment he reflected on his time at the Skywalker network. His uncle especially and the thought of having to face him tomorrow. He wasn’t some 19-year-old his uncle took pity on. He was older now, more experienced and he deserved to be on that panel. Kylo worried that maybe his uncle would see him as that same 19-year-old but he came to, realising that his uncle never enhanced his work or encouraged him to go further. All he ever did was criticise and remind him that he didn’t earn his spot at the writers table let alone the network.

Before he had spun himself into further agony over the past, his phone vibrated next to him.

 **Rey  
**Exactly :) x

So the x wasn’t accidental. It was on purpose and Kylo couldn’t help but put his phone down and embrace his heart fluttering in his chest.

 **Kylo  
**I best be getting some sleep now, goodnight

Kylo had turned the lights and television off now. setting his mobile onto the bedside table and sinking into the mattress and pillow, he wondered if he should have sent back another x or if it was too excessive. Either way, Kylo found it a lot easier to sleep that night.

The only time he was able to look at his phone was on the way to the event. It had been a busy morning filled with preparation. He spent extra time in the bathroom, making sure he was groomed and presentable. Not only was he representing himself but the First Order too. The last thing he wanted was to look like a fool in front of a crowd of people, not to mention his uncle.

The event had sent an intern to make sure he was where he needed to be. The college-aged boy rambled on about the event and such, Kylo had began to zone out as he stared at his notification bar.

 **Phasma  
**You’ll be fine

 **Snoke  
**Do not screw this up, remember you are representing the network!

 **Rey  
**Good luck! You’re going to be amazing! :) x

Kylo began to smile to himself, feeling a weight off his shoulders as he read Rey’s text message back over and over before he sent a quick reply.

 **To Rey:  
**Thanks. I’ll let you know how it goes x

“-and I’m really enjoying the third season too,” the boy had said, interrupting him from his screen.

“What?”

“Oh, I just am really enjoying _The Knights_ this season,” the boy said flustered, feeling slightly embarrassed

“Oh. Thanks, I’m glad to hear,” Kylo had said politely, turning his attention back to his phone, hoping one more text would come through before they arrived.

There wasn’t enough time to look at his phone even when it vibrated in his pocket. The intern was guiding him around the backstage parts, giving him a small run down on the other panels and emergency stuff like where to go if there was a fire or something more sinister.

“This is the green room for your panel here. You have a good twenty minutes to relax before the panel” the intern had said as they walked to the door.

It was a plain black door with a piece of paper taped to it that said ‘ _showrunner panel_ ’. It sent Kylo into a tiny panic. He had been to a dozen conventions before sure, been in green rooms like this before. Except this time his uncle was waiting behind this door.

“The bathrooms are that way right?” He asked the intern, pointing down the hallway.

“Ye- yes they are”

“And coffee? Where can I get that?” At this point, the longer he can stretch out the time between being in that green room and the panel the better.

“There’s a cart in the main lobby. I can grab you one if you’d like.”

“No, I got it. Thanks kid.”

“Oh. Thanks Mr. Ren,” the intern smiled, walking awake quickly so he didn’t embarrass himself any more.

Kylo dawdled down the hall, making his way to the lobby. The coffee line was luckily busy and he had no quarrels about waiting his turn. His hands had become sweaty and the anxiety started to grow with in himself.

5 minutes to go ‘til the panel started and as Kylo wandered down the hallways, taking his time, the intern rushed to meet him.

“Mr. Ren! I’ve been looking for you! I thought you might have gotten lost! The panels about to start, we should probably start making our way there,” the boy sounded panicked: Kylo didn’t blame him.

Kylo knew the stress of these events, trickling down from event organiser to the poor kids earning under minimum wage just to escort them to and from. It probably didn’t help by trying to avoid his uncle.

Kylo was the last in line of four others, waiting to be called onto stage. In the front he could see a man with long grey hair and his stomach churned. No one had turned around as he joined the line, it was if he was a ghost.

“I’d like to thank everyone who has come out today. Welcome to our showrunner panel. Let’s meet our show runners.”

They all walked out in a line, sitting down once making it to their seats. Kylo didn’t focus on the man sitting in the first seat, he turned his attention to the crowd and giving a small wave. Once seated, he grabbed the microphone, rolling it around in his hands.

“Let’s let the panel introduce themselves,” the host said

“Hello, I’m Luke Skywalker from the Skywalker Network,” his uncle introduced himself, Kylo stuck to staring at the crowd as they launched into applause.

The next three people introduced themselves. Two showrunner from the Galaxy Network and one from the Resistance Network.

“Hey, I’m Kylo Ren from the First Order Network,” he introduced himself.

Kylo didn’t feel pressured from the one hundred or so eyes on him, he felt more pressure from his uncle who had turned his attention to him, once again avoiding his eyes.

The panel lasted an hour and a half, dragging over slightly due to audience questions. After getting over his initial anxiety, Kylo had actually enjoyed himself. Leaving the stage, he felt almost proud of himself. He had gotten to a point in his career where others looked up to him for guidance, were interested in how he came to where he was today.

He made his way down the corridor. The plan was to go back to the hotel, maybe see if one of his old writer friends was free for a drink or dinner. Pulling out his phone, he was about to text Rey when he heard his name.

“Ben!” he had heard behind himself, no one called him Ben except for-

Luke. Kylo turned around, swallowing hard as he watched his uncle make his way towards him.

“Luke”

“Can we talk?”

Kylo hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath. What was there to talk about? Well, if he was honest, a lot.

“Uh…” the boy inside of Kylo told him no. That boy was hurt, petty. Kylo was his own man now. “…yeah, okay.”

“Now, where’s a place to get a good drink?”

Kylo has taken his uncle to a bar down the road from the venue. It was small, a few wooden barstools sat at the bar. An old pool table stained with blue chalk sat in the corner of the dimly lit building. They sat across from each other in a back room smoking area, Kylo with a whiskey in hand and his uncle with a pint of beer.

“Smoking huh? I remember when smoking was cool,” his uncle jested. Kylo rolled his eyes as he ignited the much needed cigarette.

“I must say, I am impressed. You really held yourself in that panel.”

“Yeah, well, I’m representing the network so it’s best I don’t make a fool of myself,” Kylo said as he tapped the ash of his cigarette into the dirty ashtray.

“Is that what Snoke told you? Not to make a fool of yourself and the network?” Luke huffed.

Sitting across from each other, Kylo was forced to make eye contact. He started noting the lines and creases in his uncles face that weren’t there the last time he saw him. How long his hair had truly grown, how the grey strands were slowly turning white. His uncle had grown old.

“What’s this about? What did you want to talk about?”

Kylo didn’t appreciate his uncle being so negative about the network or Snoke. Snoke, despite his demands and cruelty, took Kylo in. Gave him a career worth having, the only reason he was on that panel.

“I want to say sorry. For how things went before you left the network.” Luke sipped his beer after he spoke, looking away as if it was the hardest thing to say.

Kylo almost snorted. Luke never did too well with apologies, it’s why the fall out happened in the first place.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now.” Kylo tried to brush it off, like he hadn’t been waiting years to hear his uncle say it.

The day Kylo left the Skywalker network was definitely on his top 10 list of shittiest days of his life. His uncle was a showrunner for The Jedi and had spent months encouraging him to aim for the head writers position for the next season. Kylo had already spent years in the writing seat, working his way from the ground so he didn’t seem entitled because his family owned the network. Luke had encouraged to go for the spot. ‘If you work hard Ben, you’ll get that position I assure you’ he would say. So he did. Worked endlessly for months, improving his writing, stepping up and taking charge when warranted. Trying to prove he had what it takes.

The day Kylo left the Skywalker network, they announced the next head writer. It wasn’t him but some guy who had joined the writers team only a few seasons ago. Something in Kylo broke that day. He was escorted out by security after starting a screaming match and  smashing his uncles office to pieces. It was safe to say he no longer was working for The Jedi. Not only did it hurt that his uncle gave the position to someone else, his mother, the Vice President of the company at the time, gave him shit for how he acted in reaction to the news. His own mother didn’t even defend him, didn’t try and hear his side. After that day he had cut himself off from his family. It was only months later that Snoke reached out.

“It does Ben. You had so much talent, so much potential. I should have encouraged you, helped you grow. But I didn’t. I was too caught up in my own vision and the success of it all to consider you at all. And now not only you suffered and I suffered, but your mother and father too.”

Kylo didn’t know what to say. He finished the last of his whiskey, stubbing his cigarette out into the ashtray. In a way he was shocked. His uncle was not the type to take full responsibility, not the type to apologise.

“After you left, your mother made me go to therapy for the anger problem. She runs the network now. I just sit on the board doing jack shit.”

“You gave up the network to mom?” his mouth opened slightly, unable to hide his surprise.

“After _The Jedi_ wrapped I was done, needed to get out of the industry. I own a farm now, in Oregon. Grow potatoes, cucumbers, even some of the old wacky backy,” his uncle winked, sipping his beer.

Kylo couldn’t help but cringe. ‘ _Wacky backy’_. His uncle really was an old man.

“So you’re some kind of hippy now?” Kylo scoffed.

“You could say so, I even meditate. Something I picked up from the anger management classes,” he laughed

“Look Ben, I know it’s been years since everything happened. And I know I could have apologized sooner. I just was too proud. But I hope you can find it within

yourself to forgive me now, for failing you.” The look in his uncle’s eyes was sincere, bordering on sad.

Kylo had spent years practicing in his head what he would say to his uncle when the time came. Rehearsing in the shower, imaging countless scenarios when his mind went silent. Something along the lines of ‘ _get fucked_ ’ or ‘ _fuck you old man!_ ’ but now Kylo realised that he didn’t want to say any of that. He didn’t want to feel angry or hurt anymore. Just like his uncle, he was a proud man too, his whole family suffered from too much pride.

“Okay… I forgive you.” It was three words. Simple, to-the-point, and Kylo had never felt such a weight lift off his shoulders. His uncle exhaled with relief, smiling slightly.

For a moment, they sat in silence. Kylo stood to grab himself another whiskey and his uncle another beer. Upon his return, lighting another cigarette.

“I must say, _The Knights_ is truly a fantastic show. You should be proud.”

“You watch the show?” Kylo said, almost choking on cigarette smoke.

“We all do, your parents and I. Chewie brags about you all the time, anyone that comes into the shop. ‘ _Have you seen_ The Knights _? That’s my nephews show!_ ’…” Luke imitated Chewies voice, deep and accented. “…I pirate it though, I refuse to give Snoke any more viewers.” Of course his uncle would pirate it, classic Skywalker pettiness.

“Thanks, it means a lot.”

“Ben, take the time to go see your mother. Call her at least. Your parents miss you, it would mean the world to not only her but Han.”

He knew his mother had to have missed him, his father in his own way too. Luke was right. If it was time to forgive him then it was time to see his mother too.

“Yeah… okay, I’ll take some time off…” Kylo finished the rest of his drink “… I need you to do something for me,” he said. Luke looked at him, urging him to go on.

* * *

Kylo had dropped everything as soon as he got back to New York. The show, the network, it could all wait. As soon as the Uber dropped him home and he threw his bag into his bedroom, he reached for his phone in his back pocket. Dialing Rey’s number.

_One ring… two rings… three rings…_

“Kylo! Did you make it home okay?” she had answered. No hello. He supposed she was worried, he hadn’t exactly messaged her after the panel or drinks with his uncle.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Sorry I got caught up with a couple of things,” he apologized, beginning to pace up and down his hallway.

“That’s okay! I was just worried that’s all. Is everything okay?”

Rey sounded concerned. He could just imagine her checking her phone, swiping her notifications bar up and down as she waited to hear back from him. Kylo smiled, appreciating her worry. It was nice to have someone in his life that genuinely worried.

“What are you doing tonight?”

“Tonight?” Rey asked.

“Yeah, tonight”

“Oh… well nothing really. I was just going to watch a documentary on penguins.”

“You wanna meet up?”

Kylo stood under a streetlight. Pulling his scarf closer to his chin, he waited. Hearing footsteps, his head spun in the direction it was coming from. It wasn’t her, just a man in tight shorts jogging on by.

Central Park was an odd location to meet someone at this time of night. There were warmer places, places with food or a good glass of whiskey but Kylo liked the idea of the park at night. It was quiet, mostly, and the lights looked beautiful as they reflected off the lake. It was as good as any place.

As he waited, something emerged within him. Something he had not felt in awhile. Inspiration. A vision of snow covered pines, a dark forest with no end. Stood fierce and tall, a woman with a blade risen. The man in front of her, bewildered but determined. Finally meeting his one true match, not just in battle but in life. His blade meeting hers with an almighty sound. A struggle for dominance, for power. A fight for honour, for love as they danced in the snow. All of this flashing in front of Kylo’s eyes.

Before he could whip out his phone and take a few quick notes, he was met by the click clack of heels. For moment Kylo thought it could just be another passerby until the footsteps became louder.

Although dark and dimly lit, Kylo saw the light smile spread across her face as Rey made her way towards him. Her hair tied back except for the few loose strands that bounced around her cheeks, the dark scarf covering her chin in a bid to keep herself warm. Her hands stuffed into the woolen coat she wore the first time they had met.

“Hi” she greeted him, approaching him in the light.

“Hey! I was wondering if you were ever gonna show up”

They met with an embrace, one that lingered for longer than anticipated. Kylos heart almost jumped out of his throat as she nuzzled her head deeper into his chest. It felt good being in her arms, a relief of sorts.

“Traffic was a mess. You know New York!”

“So what’s your ulterior motive luring me to a dark and secluded park at this hour?” Rey joked as they begun walking.

“I like the park at night. It’s quite beautiful”

“Your not trying to get me to come with you into a bush and murder me are you?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick and painless” he joked. Rey’s light chuckle sounding like music to his ears.

“And you’re not worried about getting mugged by a group of kids up to no good?”

“I’d like to see them try”

He was a tall man with large features including his arms and chest, that was no secret. Neither was the fact he was known to hold his own in a fight. However, Kylo did find the thought of a group of kids trying to mug him amusing. Laughing to himself at the idea the fight would be over in ten seconds due to crushing one of them with his foot.

“So what’s been happening? How did the panel go?”

“It went fine, better than expected actually”

“And your uncle?”

“We talked”

“What?” Rey stopped in her tracks, grabbing onto Kylo’s arm.

“What happened?” she asked

“We talked it all out. He apologised and we mended fences and all that shit”

“That’s so great to hear Kylo”

“Actually it’s the reason I wanted to meet with you”

“In this secluded park at 9 in the evening”

“Yes”

“Well…” she said, waiting for him to go on.

Kylo hesitated for a moment. His palms sweaty, he took a breathe.

“Rey, I feel terrible about you losing your job-“

“Kylo-“ Rey interrupted, rolling her eyes. They had been over this a million times, he knew but he had to get it out.

“No, Rey, please listen”

Swallowing hard, he took a moment to collect himself. Kylo had rehearsed this all on the drive there but yet the words failed to feel right. But he would try, even if it came out like vomit.

“I feel incredibly guilty about you losing your job and no matter how many times you say it’s fine, I- it’s just not…fine. I think you have real potential in this industry and you shouldn’t be wasting it delivering people food or writing articles about what fucking boy band member is the hottest or whatever. Not that there’s anything wrong with that shit, it’s just… you could be doing so much more. And with Snoke closing down the paper, I feel like whatever ladder you were climbing up just got burnt down to the ground and that wouldn’t have happened if I had just…I don’t know…”

“…you deserve better. You really do. And you care about what you're writing and your so dedicated. Anyway I’m just rambling now, I’m going to try and just get this out…” he paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing.

Rey’s brow rose, a nervous laugh almost leaving her lips. She stared at Kylo intensely, trying to figure out what he was trying to say.

“I talked to my uncle. He’s not at the network anymore, he’s just a chairman on the board now. In fact he’s this weird hippy but my mom is running the network now. They’re starting this new fantasy series at the network and my uncles going to help them with the first season. I asked my uncle if there was a place for you there”

Kylo turned his gaze away from the lake and to Rey. Her lips parted and her eyes wide, now she was the one who could not meet his eyes. For a moment Kylo anticipated rejection. An independent and fierce Rey telling him that she could find her own job, she was doing just fine on her own, she didn’t need his help. But she didn’t say anything, instead staring towards the lake.

“It’s starting off small, working your way up kind of thing. You’d just be running the social media accounts for now but I’ve seen how you care about the fans and I think you’d be great. You’d be around people who can help strengthen your writing skills and you could work your way up to the writers room or even somewhere else in the network. It’s stable solid income at the very least” Kylo had finished.

He had hoped she wouldn’t be offended that he tried to get her a job or that he used his connections to get her a foot in the door. Even if it was a way to get rid of his guilt, Even if she didn’t feel the same way he felt about her, if all they were ever going to be was friends, even if she didn’t take the offer, at least he knew he tried to make things right properly. Not by paying for dinner or giving her early access to episodes. 

A silence fell in between the two. Both not sure what to say. Especially Rey who just started blankly at the lights shimmering off the lake. The dread started to rise within Kylo but before he had time to chastise himself, Rey looked back to him.  
  
“No one's ever done something like that for me before” she quietly said, her eyes were starting to water.   
  
“Rey… are you alright?” Kylo asked, his hands on Rey's arms with the intent to comfort.

“Yeah… I’m fine, it’s just… wow”  
  
“I’m sorry, I should have consulted you about this first at least”   
  
“You know, at first I was pissed about losing my job at the Post. I was so so angry at you. By the time you came back from Europe, I wasn’t even mad. Someone would have eventually bought the paper, if it wasn’t Snoke then someone else. And I’m used to getting by no matter the means anyway...” he could tell Rey was starting to swallow hard, trying to remove the lump from her throat. A drop or two had started to escape from her eyes, quickly running down her cheeks.

His hand met her cheek, his large thumb wiping away the stray tears. Rey’s eyes met Kylos. Her mouth parted slightly as she tried to say something, anything. But she was lost for words and Kylo had already said enough. Kylos hand cupped her cheek now, his fingers softly caressing her skin. The thought that one hand of his could easily cover her face left as fast as it came.

Rey took a sharp breath, sniffling only a little as her eyes made their way down to his nose. The world in slow motion as Kylo watched Rey's eyes finally rest on his lips. His body froze as her head inched closer. Hoping she would not feel his hand stiffen as it remained on her face. He was not ashamed to recall the nights spent lying awake thinking about this moment, daydreams of how it would be if they were to ever get this close.

Kylo could feel the warmth between them, although the rest of the world was cold with a slight chill in the breeze. The tip of Rey’s nose hesitantly met his, his heart quickened as the pit in his stomach grew.

She put him out of his misery. Her eyes dancing between his and his lips before she went in for the kill. Rey’s lips brushed against his delicately as if she was asking for permission. His other hand had found its own way to her face, cupping her gently as their lips met.

It was different than he had imagined. It was tender, warm and importantly, real. Caught off guard her tongue sneaking its way into his mouth, surprise had turned into delight. There was a sudden heat rising within him, an animalistic urge. Before he could act further, a cyclist sped past ringing their bell, breaking them away from each other as they jumped in fright.

Kylo was normally not one to participate in PDA. He found it overly uncomfortable when witnessing it himself but with Rey he wanted his hands all over her anywhere. Kylo could have Rey in his arms in the middle of Times Square with a thousand eyes of them but he wouldn’t care for a second.

Rey smiled gently as she pulled away from Kylo.

“Thank you” she spoke gently.

There was no time for Kylo to process the events that had unfolded when Rey took his hand and started walking down the dimly lit path.

“Where are we going?”

“To get a drink! My treat now that I’m so employable” she laughed.

“You have to let me get a round at the very least” Kylo bargained.

“Of course!”

The kiss changed everything. The doubt in his mind fading with each step he took, still together yet the kiss replayed in his mind. How her lips felt, the warmth, how she tasted like honey. Everything led to this and now Kylo knew she felt the same too.

With his large hand in her small one, they made their way through the park. Kylo would look to their entwined hands and then to Rey plenty of times before they made it back to the city streets. Losing himself in his thoughts and disbelief, Rey would pull him back into reality. With a smile, a kiss on the cheek or something to say.

As they waited at the crossing for the man to turn green, Rey snuck a quick kiss, giggling to herself as she pulled Kylo across the crossing.

Never in a million years did he think all this could come from one bad review.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. 
> 
> I started this fic almost a year ago, never knowing when or how I was going to finish it but I finally did it! Ive enjoyed writing it so much and I hope you enjoyed reading it too. This is such a long fic idk if i want to write anything again!!
> 
> I would like to thank @cataclyzmicog on Twitter for looking at this fic, helping me spelling and grammar and making some great suggesting that helped shape this fic together. I am so grateful for her help.
> 
> Again, thank you for reading. You can find me on Twitter and Tumblr @spaceypriestess


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